Verdict Says Guilty
by CassidyTVNut
Summary: The verdict's in for Jeffrey McKeen...and all Catherine can do it sit by and watch...and think about what he took from her, from both of them. ONE SHOT.


Verdict Says Guilty

**The verdict's in for Jeffrey McKeen...and all Catherine can do it sit by and watch...and think about what he took from her, from both of them.**

She sat on the bench in the court room, her eyes leaking tears as she was forced to remember that night, the night she lost everything. That bastard McKeen had taken away everything from her for his own selfish means, taking away the life of a man that she cherished above all else. The man who had given her the most precious gift in the world.

'Cath,' said Grissom gently, squeezing her hand.

Snapping out of her semi hypnotic state, she looked upon the face of her trusted friend, Gil Grissom and smiled weakly. 'Sorry Gil, I was miles away. All of this, the trial, it's brought up a lot of bad memories.'

'Yeah,' he replied, looking to the floor, memory lane dawning on him and haunting him like a spectre.

'I'm sorry,' she said, knowing that she'd opened the can of worms that Gil had tried so desperately to close since Warrick died.

'It's okay,' he replied. 'How are you? You look different.'

'I've put on a lot of weight,' she said. 'Comfort eating...'

'Ahh,' he said. 'I've been the same, since Sara left...'

'We should really be listening,' said Catherine, cutting him off, not wanting another Sara and Grissom related sob story taxing her patience.

'Yeah,' replied Grissom. 'We've done all we can, now for the verdict.'

Turning her attention back to the trial, for the final verdict, she took a deep breath in and muttered a prayer to Warrick's spirit, feeling more strongly than ever that he was in the room with her, watching what was going on.

'Have the jury reached a unanimous verdict?' asked the judge.

'We have Your Honour,' replied the Foreman. 'We, the jury, find Jeffrey McKeen guilty of the first degree murder of CSI Warrick Brown.'

Grissom and Catherine breathed a large sigh of relief with the rest of Warrick's loved ones in the room.

'Mr McKeen will be sent to Nevada State Prison, where he will serve a life sentence, with no possibility for parole,' stated the judge, earning more happy sighs and gasps from those in the room. 'Take him away bailiff.'

As Jeffrey McKeen was taken away in handcuffs, to be remanded permanently in prison for his crimes, Catherine hugged Gil and said, 'Justice is served.'

'Well,' he replied. 'Warrick did live for that.'

'And died for it too,' she said solemnly, bowing her head slightly.

After an awkward silence, Gil said, 'I'm going back to my office to finish some paperwork and tell everyone who had to work the great news. Join me?'

'Sure,' she replied, easing herself out of her seat.

'Are you okay?' he asked.

'Fine,' she said, brushing it aside, standing up and joining him before leaving the room.

'Uhhh Gil?' she said. 'I'm not really meant to be driving, and I got a cab here. Can I catch a lift with you?'

'Sure,' he replied. 'How come you can't drive?'

'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,' she answered. 'Impairs my reactions...'

'Ohh,' he replied. 'I didn't know that you were sick.'

'It's just to be on the safe side,' she said, getting into the unlocked car and buckling her seatbelt.

They drove back to the lab in relative silence, not a sound emerging as they left the car in the Crime Lab's parking lot, not a word uttered as they returned to a crowded break room full of people.

'Gris, Cath,' said Nick with a sense of urgency, slightly annoyed that he was not there to hear the verdict straight for the foreman's mouth, resentful of an active crime scene getting in the way. He didn't have to say a word after that, for both Grissom and Catherine knew what he wanted to know, what everyone in that room wanted to know.

'Guilty,' said Catherine simply and sharply, making those in the room gasp with relief.

'May the bastard rot in hell,' spat Nick.

'I couldn't agree more,' replied Grissom. 'Nick, Catherine, can you join me in my office? I just want to catch up properly, it feels like it's been forever.'

'Yeah, it has,' replied Nick.

'We've all been a little preoccupied,' admitted Catherine, following Nick and Grissom out of the room and into his office.

Shutting the door, Grissom sat down and said, 'There's something that Catherine wants to tell us...'

'What?' asked Catherine in shock. 'There's nothing!'

'Really?' asked Grissom. 'When were you planning to tell us that you were pregnant Cath? When you gave birth?'

'H-H-H-How do you know?' stuttered Catherine.

'You're not driving, you're not drinking, you've put on weight. Chronic fatigue, Detox and comfort eating are pathetic excuses, and we're not stupid,' stated Grissom.

'I was too polite to ask,' said Nick quietly. 'Who's the father? You don't have to tell us, I'm just curious about why you kept it from us.'

'Warrick's the father,' said Catherine tearfully. 'I didn't know how to tell you guys. I wanted to, but there was so much I needed to work through, so much that I am still working through. I lost the man I loved with all of my soul. I lost my soulmate that day, something in me died with him, I needed to try and get used to everything. To pregnancy, to life without Warrick, to everything as I knew changing it.'

'How did it happen?' asked Grissom quietly. 'You and Warrick?'

Exhaling, Catherine said, 'There's always been something between us, but the timing has always been off. It was an ordinary night after a triple shift, you and Sara were spending the day together because it was your anniversary, Nick, you were doting on that gal Keira, and Greg was going to bed because he was sick. So Warrick and I decided to go out for a few drinks, blow off some steam. We ended up back at my place, and we talked. We decided that we'd made some really stupid mistakes when it came to our relationship, and we wanted to right them. After staying up all night, we decided we wanted to be together. That was 6 months before he died...We didn't want you guys to know because of the problems that you and Sara had Gil. I loved him, and he loved me...'

'When did you find out that you were pregnant and how far along are you?' asked Nick.

'What is this, 20 questions?' asked Catherine, but when seeing their serious faces said, '4 weeks after Warrick died and 7 months.'

The room stayed quiet.

Twiddling nervously with her hair, Catherine said, 'It's a girl by the way. I've picked out a name and everything. Wren-Nicole Gillian Brown. Wren's for Warrick, I wanted to keep the whole W thing going. And, when I was mourning for Rick, this beautiful wren kept sitting by my window. It doesn't seem like much, but I looked forward to seeing it every morning, it felt as if Warrick had sent it to me. The Nicole's for you Nick, Warrick would have wanted her named after you, he thought of you as his brother, and you've always been there for me whenever I've needed you. And Gillian for you Gil, you saw the video clip, Warrick saw you as his father, he loved you. I know that he would've wanted me to honour the two of you in Wren's name.'

The room stayed quiet once more, the only sound being the clock ticking second by second.

'Can you guys please say something?' asked Catherine in frustration. 'Be happy for me? Be sorry for me? Something?'

'We are all of those things Catherine,' said Grissom quietly.

'It's just a lot to process,' finished Nick.

'But, I suppose that I should say congratulations,' said Grissom.

'Me too,' said Nick.

They both stood up to hug her, and Nick said, 'Is it just me or have you grown a bit more in the past few minutes?'

'Well, rule of thumb is that once your pregnancy comes out, you grow a hell of a lot faster, apparently little Wren here is no exception,' said Catherine.

'Do we get to be godfathers?' asked Grissom

'Naturally,' replied Catherine. 'I'm gonna ask Greg as well, and Sara to be godmother.'

'Well that's sorted then,' replied Nick. 'Lunch anyone?'

'Wren is crying out for a BBQ chicken sub. And she wants one of her beloved godfathers to pay for it,' suggested Catherine.

'I'll sort it,' said Grissom straight away.

'Wow, I need to store that and use it more often,' mused Catherine out loud.


End file.
